plastic waste a challenge to madern world
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Plastics are incredibly useful materials with extremely diverse properties, allowing a multitude of different applications that benefit our lives.
Bottles and forks aside, in the medical field alone plastics have been used for artificial heart valves, medical implants and devices, controlled drug release, specialist surfaces and coatings that repel water, organic batteries – the list is endless.
But, with marine plastic debris estimated to reach 250 million tons by 2025, governments across the globe are starting to think about how to overcome this significant problemA fundamental part of this issue is that non-sustainable, single-use plastics account for up to 40 per cent of global plastic production. This equates to around 128 million tons. The vast majority of these plastics have low recycling rates and do not biodegrade in an acceptable time span – polypropylene can take millennia to break down properly.
Worse still, if these plastics find their way into the marine environment, the motion of the sea along with sunlight can cause the plastics to fracture into small particulates called microplastics.A ban on the production of cosmetics and personal care products containing plastic microbeads came into effect at the beginning of the year. Though realistically, this only accounts for an estimated 680 tons of microplastics per year in the UK.
It is clear then that plastic waste is a complicated problem – spanning economics, sustainability, social pressures and recycling infrastructure in both developed and developing countries. But while it’s widely known that plastics can be an issue for the environment, what isn’t often known is that the persistence of plastics in the environment is actually closely linked to how they are made.As a consumer, this means you have a choice and the power to make a positive impact. Find out where your nearest plastic waste recycling point is and look to promote home collection and the proper recycling of all types of plastic waste.
So next time you use the last of the ketchup, help to preserve our resources by making sure your plastic waste stays in the recycling loop.